They teach chefs to stand by the garbage sometimes to see where their profits are going... but this only works when margins are chef-knife thin or portions are being done by the hundreds. In fact, keeping staff on for slow nights, preparing things that have to be ready but can't be kept, rent, and various other frictions take more out of a restaurant than simple prep waste.

This is one of the things that explains why the pro cook will slice a good chunk out of some vegetable to stabilize it on the board and speed the chopping. Food is cheap relative to prep time and accidents. Getting 10% more out of each cucumber won't solve a prep cook getting cut.

The home cook thinks differently. They don't square off vegetable to dice it and discard all the curved parts. The waste would be frightening. And so, shapes are uneven and cutting relatively slow...

So true, Ben!

I agree with the home/pro difference. I'm on the "home" side of the equation. I took Weinstein's course at I.C.E. and enjoyed it immensely. He is a skilled knife man and excellent teacher with a wry sense of humor. Favorite part? Learning how to de bone a chicken leg and turn it into rollatini - or as Chef Weinstein put it, "turning a .89 per pound sale item into a $16.00 entree"